Entries for February 2011

Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati has a tough job ahead: forming a cabinet strong enough to endure the political storm expected to rise from the findings of the United Nations’ Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) on the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

by Franklin Lamb

February 22, 2011

The Tahrir Square “Hurriya!” tremors spreading across the Middle East may or may not be impacting today’s events in the historically liberal American state of Wisconsin and other areas of America, yet most of us would agree that the Tunisian-Egyptian revolutions are being felt far and wide and appear to be dramatically gaining steam. Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps are no exception.

Lebanon: Prime Minister-designate briefs UN envoy on efforts to form new government

22 February 2011 –The United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon met today with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati, who briefed him on his continuing efforts concerning the formation of a new government.

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama's administration was the target of harsh criticism in Congress Wednesday for not doing enough to support democratic reforms in Egypt and Lebanon.

"In both Egypt and Lebanon, we have failed to effectively leverage US assistance in support of peaceful, pro-democracy forces and to help build strong, accountable, independent, democratic institutions as a bulwark against the instability that is now spreading throughout much of the region," said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen at a hearing of the Foreign Affairs Committee she heads.

Despite the media's recent focus on Egypt, events in Lebanon may well tell us more about the troubled prospects for Middle Eastern democracy. The fall of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government, replaced by a Hezbollah-dominated coalition, dramatically imperils Beirut's democratic Cedar Revolution.